When is a smartphone not a smartphone? When it is what Sony calls a “communication device.” That’s what Sony is calling their next-generation Xperia Pro 5G that, depending on how you look at it, is either a really interesting camera or your typical smartphone.

For one, it comes with a dedicated Type D Micro HDMI input (a first for smartphones), a somewhat dated Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor, and a 6.5-inch 4K OLED screen with a 60hz refresh rate optimized for making your Sony communication device an effective external monitor as well as something for data transfer.

This comes into play when the Xperia Pro 5G is used for live streaming, among other things. A trend we’ve seen among some of the other manufacturers with their consumer cameras, this isn’t that shocking to see in a Sony pseudo-smartphone effort.

Still, the middle ground this device occupies might confuse some consumers as it is definitely designed to be a dedicated smartphone. It can also connect with other Sony cameras like those from the Alpha lineup.

Basically, the Xperia Pro 5G is a sort of hub device spanning many different functionalities that helps tie in with the broader Sony ecosystem. This is especially reflected in its price. At $USD 2,499.99, it is quite clear that Sony has a particular target audience in mind and, given the phone isn’t competing with top-of-the-line devices from Apple or Samsung, that isn’t your average smartphone consumer.

You can watch a video from Sony detailing the Xperia Pro 5G’s features here.

Does the Sony Xperia Pro sound like a smartphone – or “communication device” – you would be interested in owning? Let us know your thoughts on Sony’s latest device in the comments below.

Don’t forget to check out some of our other photography news on Light Stalking at this link right here.

[PetaPixel]

Given how much chaos drones can cause in sensitive areas, it’s no surprise that the fines attached to violations can be quite high.

Still, nearly $USD 200,000 in fines is a huge number by any standard.

Yet that’s exactly the bill one Pennsylvania drone pilot is facing after posting no less than 26 violations across 26 separate flights into restricted airspace according to the FAA.

DP Review quotes Jonathan Rupprecht, an aviation attorney, who said of the fines, “This is the second largest proposed fine that I know about. Skypan was for about $1.9 million. Drone flyers need to realize that flying a drone is a regulated activity and there are consequences. While a fine might not deter some, laws have been passed in recent years which can send you to federal prison for operating in an unsafe way near airports or aircraft.”

The exact amount of the fines, $USD 182,000, was easy for the FAA to levy given the pilot’s recording of his drone flights and subsequent posting of them to YouTube. The FAA even reached out to the pilot and warned him about the violations but heard no response from the as-yet-unnamed person. Violations include going beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS), operating at night without a waiver, flying too close to buildings, intentionally losing control of the drone, and flying without LAANC authorization. And all of this is easily proven given not only the posted videos but also the reams of other data that can be obtained from both the videos themselves as well as the drone if needed.

Just goes to show you that ignorance of the law, or, in this case, ignoring warnings about the law is no protection against the consequences for breaking it.

As we covered recently, the FAA has released a slew of new rules and regulations for drone pilots in the United States. This was matched by the European Union also offering its own standardized list of rules. You can read those articles here and here respectively.

What do you think of one drone pilot receiving nearly $USD 200,000 in fines? What do you think about proposals for regulating drones in the future? Let us know your thoughts on this story in the comments section.

Don’t forget to check out some of our other photography news on Light Stalking at this link right here.

[DPReview]

One of the bigger trends in technology that should become more prevalent in the next few years is augmented reality and mixed reality devices.

Think Google Glass but something everyone will want to use. While we’ve been promised this kind of thing for a while now, with even the vaunted Apple rumored to be working on their own headset, we just haven’t seen anything materialize yet.

Well, Canon is hoping to make your mixed reality dreams come true but it’s going to cost you. The nearly $40K MREAL S1 can display CG images within real space using two CMOS sensors that basically act as the eyes of the device, interpreting the real-world environment and placing the virtual object within that space. Targeted towards industrial designers, among others, the MREAL S1 lets the wearer interact with the object but also place objects in real space in use cases such as a designer showing how a space would look when completed.

The full unit comes with all of the software and equipment necessary to make it work and is much smaller than Canon’s previous efforts in this area. Still, at $USD 38,400, it’s not exactly cheap but, then again, it isn’t really for the average consumer.

You can watch a video from Canon demonstrating the device at this link right here.

As always, we’d love to know what you think about mixed reality headsets and the Canon MREAL S1 in particular. Could you see yourself using such a device? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Be sure to check out our other photography news on Light Stalking at this link right here.

[PetaPixel]

Fashion photography is certainly one of the most competitive fields nowadays. Working in the fashion industry allows portrait photographers to shoot very elaborate and creative portraits, which can be very challenging yet fulfilling. If you’re just starting out as a fashion photographer, it might be hard to get your photos noticed.

The following 15 fashion photographers are all great examples of successful artists who have reached a wide audience on social media. Check out their well-crafted portfolios on Instagram if you want to find inspiration for your own fashion shoots!

Here Are 15 Of The Best Fashion Photographers To Follow On Instagram:

Matthew Brookes is a British photographer raised in South Africa. He lives between Paris and New York City nowadays and aside from working with celebrities and models, Brookes enjoys photographing sports men and women and dancers.

His portraits could be found in a wide range of publications, such as Vanity Fair, Vogue, L’Uomo Vogue, The New York Times’ T Magazine and many more.

Glen Luchford is a British fashion photographer and film director who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. 

His photographic style is heavily influenced by his love of cinema. Luchford likes to photograph his models in the studio and he often uses elaborate lighting to create memorable cinematic photographs.

Emma Tempest is a British photographer based between London and New York. Her images are typically soft, dreamy and full of pastel colors, which evokes a sense of serenity and balance.

She collaborates with important clients such as Shiseido, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors, Trussardi and so on. 

Sebastian Kim is a Vietnam-born photographer who was raised between Iran and France. His portfolio features seductive yet stylish images which are very sophisticated when it comes to lighting and composition. 

He collaborates with prestigious fashion magazines such as American Vogue, German Vogue, Russian Vogue, Numéro Tokyo, Muse, and others.

Alessio Bolzoni is an Italian avant-garde photographer famous for his unusual and daring photographs which are redefining the concept of beauty in the fashion industry. His work is inspired by cinematography, theater, street life and street photography.

Alessio's photography has been widely featured in top publications like Marie Claire, Elle US, Harper’s Bazaar UK, Numero, Glamour and many more.

6.Julia Johnson & Cody Cloud – @jucophoto

JUCO photo represents the collaborative work of Julia Johnson and Cody Cloud, two artists who met in 2002 at The San Francisco Art Institute. Their work is best known for bold and playful use of colors and shapes.

Julia and Cody are based in Los Angeles and their clients include major names such as Vogue Taiwan, Paper Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Glamour and others.

Dario Castellani is an Italian photographer best know for his conceptual editorial work and interesting blend of street and fashion photography.

He has shot editorials for important magazines such as Vogue Italia, British Vogue, Dazed and many more.

Patrick Demarchelier is a French photographer who discovered fashion photography by working as a freelancer and learning from legendary photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson.  

Since the late 1970s Demarchelier has shot the covers for almost every major fashion magazine such as American, British and Paris Vogue. His Instagram account has nearly a million followers.

Tony Kelly is an Irish fashion and fine art photographer who is currently based between Los Angeles and Europe. His approach to fashion photography is rather bold and provocative and his images look very lively thanks to vibrant colors.

His work has been published in Vanity Fair, Vanity Fair Italia, Vogue Paris, Vogue Greece, GQ and other prestigious fashion magazines.

Amanda Charchian is an American photographer based in Los Angeles. Her photography explores sensuality in a rather surreal way and her images are very subtle, feminine and dreamy. She captures the intimacy and the connection between herself and the models she photographs.

Her commercial clients include Gucci, Bulgari, Chloe, Cartier, Nordstrom, Glossier, MCM and others.

Petra Collins is a Canadian fashion model and photographer who rose to fame in the early 2010s. Her photography focuses on feminist issues and also characterises a dreamy feel.

She was a resident photographer for Rookie magazine and has directed a number of short films and music videos.

Lillie Eiger is a fashion photographer from Chicago based in London who is represented by probation agency that showcases creative artists. She is someone who experiments with various styles so you may be in for a surprise if you follow her.

Mariano Vivanco's passion for photography began after he settled down in New Zealand. Inspired by the works of famous photographers Vivanco moved to London to pursue a career in fashion photography.

He is now one of world's leading editorial photographers, shooting regularly for Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Vanity Fair, and many more where his subjects incluse actors, designers, athletes, singers and other celebrities.

Georges Antoni is an Australian fashion photographer whose works have been published in some of the biggest magazines like Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harpers Bazaar, etc. He strongly believes in photographing the current fashion trends so his fashion images can remain a witness to depict a particular time, like the fashion, the society, the emotions, etc.

James Houston is an Australian photographer who developed a love for nature and the great outdoors when growing up. James travelled around Europe and that is when he built his photography portfolio and on his return to Australia started shooting cover and fashion stories for Australian Vogue, Oyster magazine and others.

James shot several commissioned shoots for Interview magazine after which he moved to New York and shot for advertising campaigns for many international brands and is also popular among celebrities.

If you want to learn more about fashion photography, feel free to check out the following links!

Further Resources:

1. How To Plan A Fashion Photography Shoot
2. 20 Creative Examples Of Fashion Photography
3. 3 Fashion Photographers Who Defined The Genre
4. Editorial & Fashion Photography: Use These Instagram Hashtags
5. 12 Fashion Photography Tips For Better Instagram Promotion
6. 20 Fashion & Portrait Photographers To Follow On Instagram In 2019

Getting film developed used to be much easier than it is now in the digital age.

And Indisposable would like to bring those glory days back, as well as add a new, modern touch to the service.

For photographers and other hobbyists that want to work with film, Indisposable wants to be your film developing service, PetaPixel reports, and it hopes to make the process as convenient as possible.

First, a photographer sends off their film to Indisposable who develops it then scanned with the scanned photographs being sent automatically to the customer’s smartphone. Sounds pretty straight forward, right? But what if you don’t have any film to start? Indisposable has you covered there, too, with products including a Fuji disposable camera with 27 exposures and a Kodak with 39 for $USD 19.99 and $USD 39.99 apiece. Indisposable can currently process 35mm, disposable, and 120 film.

While customers can have their photos sent to their smartphone, Indisposable also lets you upload them to your computer from their website as well as maintains them on that same website in a database that will “never expire” according to the company. At present, the company doesn’t offer prints of the photos it develops though it hopes to do that at some point in the future. You can check Indisposable out at their website at this link. Currently, the company’s app is only available for Apple iOS smartphones but you can look at that here.

Does Indisposable’s service sound like something you would be interested in using? Do you still shoot with film? Let us know your thoughts on this story in the comments below.

Be sure to look at some of our other photography news articles on Light Stalking at this link right here.

[PetaPixel]

Shutterstock just added another piece to its growing stock photography empire, this time acquiring 3D asset marketplace TurboSquid for a healthy $USD 74 million.

TurboSquid has the distinction of being the world’s largest marketplace for 3D assets and, because of this, that title will transfer over to Shutterstock as DP Review highlights.

The target here is to capture some of the revenue from the growing 3D modeling market, an increasingly common substitute for the actual products seen in promotional photos. In fact, many analysts think this will become the dominant mode of advertising products in the future as both the tools necessary to make use of these models become more common and the models themselves become increasingly more difficult to distinguish from their real-life counterparts.

CEO of Shutterstock Stan Pavlovsky said of the purchase of TurboSquid, “At Shutterstock, we are constantly at the forefront of innovation, monitoring the creative roadmap through our clients. The growth of 3D, AR and VR content and the potential to engage consumers with this disruptive technology is at an all-time high, and TurboSquid’s industry-leading platform allows us to make the distribution of 3D accessible to Shutterstock’s community of creators and marketers across video, gaming, e-commerce, and beyond.”

His counterpart at TurboSquid, Matt Wisdom, said the following according to Shutterstock’s press release: “Nobody in the world understands the creative landscape better than Shutterstock. The visionary leadership and tech innovation make it the perfect place for TurboSquid and its employees to continue what we do best — creating and building a 3D powerhouse and cloud-based digital asset management solution.”

What do you think of Shutterstock’s acquisition of TurboSquid? Have you used either service in the past? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Be sure to check out our other photography news articles on Light Stalking at this link right here.

[DP Review]

Ah, the Dutch. Of course, I could trot off a whole battery of generic stereotypes about the Dutch but there would be no point. You see the Dutch angle, aka the Dutch tilt has nothing to do with the people of the Netherlands. It is in fact a bastardization of the word “Deutsch”. This is, of course, the German word for German. 

The Dutch angle is, in fact, a cinematic technique. However, as you know, cinema and still photography are very close cousins. The techniques used in film making will often translate well to photography. Today, we are going to delve into the mysteries of the Dutch angle. Where it came from, what it is and how you can use it to spice up your photography. 

The Origins Of The Dutch Angle

The origins of the Dutch angle are rooted in the German Expressionism movement of the 1920s. The concept was to use a canted angle where the camera has been rotated relative to the horizon. 

The Dutch tilt was used by filmmakers to convey a sense of unease, unrest, in order to disorientate the viewer. One of the first recorded uses of the Dutch Angle was by Dziga Vertov in his documentary, Man With A Movie Camera.

The Dutch Angle In Hollywood

Of the Hollywood directors perhaps the most famous, early proponent of the oblique angle was Alfred Hitchcock. He used the Dutch angle in a number of his early films but if there is one film that took Dutch angle shots to a new level, it was The Third Man. 

Hitchcock used these angle shots to great effect on his main protagonist. This was to give the feeling of being an outsider in a world that he did not understand.

More light-hearted use of the Dutch angle was in the original Batman TV series. In that, the bad guys were often shot at a canted angle to show their evil intent. 

Why Shoot A Dutch Angle

As we know, in cinematography shooting a Dutch tilt is used to give a sense of unease. So what about its use in photography? A canted angle in a still image can still be used to give that sense of dread or unease. Of course, we lack the motion aspect of the shot. However, by choosing our angle and background carefully we can generate that same emotion.

There are, however, other reasons to use the Dutch angle in photographs. It is commonly used in portraiture when you have subjects of different heights. It’s used in fashion, architecture, travel, and street photography. 

An angled camera shot can be used to draw attention to a subject or to eliminate distractions from a shot. Using the Dutch angle can be a way to shoot taller buildings and induce converging verticals. A canted camera angle looks more deliberate, more composed than a shot with obvious converging verticals. 

More Uses Of The Dutch Angle

The Dutch angle is often used in street style fashion photography, especially when shooting full-length portraits. By angling the shot and including some interesting foreground, the viewer's eye is immediately drawn to the model and not their surroundings. 

The Dutch angle can provoke the viewer to think more about a particular image. They question why the photographer has used this particular camera technique. What story or mood is the photographer trying to convey?

In photography, the Dutch angle can help us separate the subject from the background. This is particularly true if you shoot from a low vantage point.

How To Compose A Dutch Angle Shot

Shooting Dutch angle can feel very counterintuitive, especially to newcomers in photography. We are told from day one of our photographic journeys that the horizon should always be straight, never at an angle. We are taught that if we accidentally get our horizon skewed, we should always try to correct it in post-production. Now we are learning about the Dutch angle and how to deliberately take such ”angled shots”. 

I think a good way to think of the Dutch angle shot is not as a compositional rule but as a way to complement or even break the traditional rules. You can and should still apply compositional rules to your shots and then tilt the camera for the Dutch angle. If that works well with the composition you have chosen – that's great! If the angle breaks the composition but still looks like the winning shot then that’s fine too. The only time you should step back is if the angled shot is both breaking the composition and not looking good through the viewfinder. Then it’s time to rethink.

Dutch Angle Guidelines

• First of all, be deliberate with your Dutch angle shots. A slight tilt in a landscape shot might look like a simple compositional error. On the other hand, a shot taken at a very steep angle might look far too contrived. There is no hard and fast rule – it is simply a matter of looking through the viewfinder and analyzing the scene.
• Your lens choice is very important. As a rule of thumb, wider lenses are going to work better than telephoto lenses. The wider, deeper perspective that wide-angle lenses provide help emphasize the camera angles. 
• Another vital factor in your Dutch angle shots is the background. If the camera is tilted but there is nothing in the background to suggest that the camera is at an angle, then the exercise is pointless. A good Dutch angle shot will have defined lines in the background. This could be the horizon, verticals, or edge of a building. Without them, there is no reference point. 
• Try the same shot with various angles. As mentioned, the Dutch angle is not a fixed angle. You should feel free to experiment.
• Do not rely on post-production to get the tilted shot right. 
• Shoot handheld for a more spontaneous look. Shoot from a tripod to give a more conceived look. 

Getting Creative With Dutch Angle

As we have seen, the Dutch angle should be seen as a supplement to composition, not part of a compositional rule. There are some compositional rules that work really well with the Dutch tilt. The main ones are the rule of thirds and leading lines.

Keeping your subject on one of the thirds and then applying the Dutch angle can give your shot a feeling of space. This space allows the viewer to see the juxtaposition of the framing and the horizon.

Leading lines work great, especially in low angle shots. Getting down and using the ground as a leading line for your Dutch tilt is a great way to engage the viewer.

Long exposure scenes, particularly the ones with moving clouds or water, can work really well in Dutch angle shots. The angle of the shot can juxtapose to the surreal calmness of the scene in a powerful way.

Another creative technique that works well in Dutch angle shots is the slow shutter speed zoom. This is where you deliberately zoom during the actual exposure. Slow shutter speed zoom can give a great sense of dynamism. 

The Conclusion 

Dutch angle shots are a relatively simple but effective way to elevate your photography. Experiment with angles and try combining different compositional rules with the Dutch angle. Try breaking the compositional rules too.

The most important thing about shooting a Dutch angle is that there must be a reason for it. Ask yourself if tilting the camera will make the shot better. If it will, then go for it!

Further Reading: